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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
ARE YOU COMING APART?
Matthew 17:1-6, "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid."
It does not take a lot of examination into the lives of God’s people to realize that many are living on the edge of panic. There is rarely a day that passes when I don’t hear of some major catastrophe in the life of someone I know. It is as though life seems to be coming apart at the seams for them.
Just this week I was called to officiate at a funeral service for a murder victim. That family was totally unprepared for what happened to them. Their lives were being ripped apart by the sudden death of their loved one.
Satan’s attack upon the family, God’s institution, has taken its toll. The divorce rates, by some indicators, has leveled off and some reports even attempt to suggest that the divorce rate has fallen slightly. I think that’s highly possible but not because marriages aren’t breaking up. The statistics are better because there are literally millions of people who are living together outside of marriage in an adulterous relationship.
Even Christians have come to think that this is normal and acceptable. Regardless of how we think, God still calls it sin and those who live this way are in danger of eternal damnation.
Yes, our families are coming apart and the very fabric of the society of mankind is being ripped apart by the powers of hell!
Satan’s deception knows no bounds for now we have legalized, in many areas, and even in some religious circles we have put our stamp of approval on homosexual and lesbian “marriages” and we are allowing them to adopt children to raise them in this type of environment from the pits of hell itself. God help the next generation! I have no doubt that society as a whole will continue its downward spiral into the depths of sin and society will continue to come apart at the seams more and more with each passing year.
Men and women, young people of all ages, and now, even our very young, are coming apart mentally, emotionally and physically. The spiritual nature of man, born in sin, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ as his Savior, is already dead so the depths of despair and sin that man can fall into is without limit for he is destined for the pits of hell where evil and hopelessness abound.
Our prisons, our mental institutions, and our hospitals are nearly filled to capacity because people are unable to cope with the stress any longer.
The financial condition of our world and the devaluing of our money are causing panic in the lives of multitudes. Stock market fluctuations and illegal corporate activities are erasing the financial future for many and that sends them into absolute depression and panic. While most manage to hold on to their sanity and just pick themselves up, dust themselves off and begin again, there are multitudes who resort to alcohol and drugs to drown their problems and give them an unreal sense of peace so that they can escape reality.
Many of them come to the place that they come apart mentally and go off the edge of reality, never to be fully able to function in society again. Some resort to violence, murder and robbery because they see no other hope and those mistakes only drive them deeper into despair because once that journey begins there is no escape without paying your debt to society.
Still others come apart emotionally and they lose all trust of any other person and they retreat into a protected shell where they put walls up that no one else can ever break through. Those same walls that protect them from being hurt will also keep them from ever experiencing love, compassion and the things that make life worth living.
If there was ever a time when the words of Christ ring true that he said in Luke 21:26, "Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." These words were spoken concerning the end times in which we live. It doesn’t take a theological genius to see that society is self-destructing. It doesn’t take a Nuclear Physicist to see that things can’t continue on as they are. Our governmental leaders are at a loss to know how to correct the ills of society.
Mankind has never been under physical stress as he is now and it will only grow worse from now until Jesus comes again. Stress causes a multitude of physical problems. Nerves are on edge and it seems that we are often so close to the edge of panic that even the slightest trouble sends us off into a physical state of depression. The doctor’s offices are filled with people who need the aid of nerve medicines to be able to cope with life.
Heart attacks are growing more and more prevalent, brought on by the physical stress of every day life. God created our physical body to life forever under perfect circumstances and in a sin free environment. The effect of sin upon this physical body has not only taken away its immortality, but is slowly, but surely destroying the body with each passing day bringing us ever closer to that final physical breakdown called death.
Yes, people are coming apart at the seams and the epidemic is growing larger with each passing day.
But, People of God, it doesn’t have to be that way! God has made a provision for all of us so that we can not only cope with life and the tragedies, troubles and frustration that comes with living, but we can overcome those things and live a life that is glorious, fulfilling and wonderful.
1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
God knows what you can experience and still be victorious! God knows your physical, emotional and mental limitations. After all HE MADE YOU!
I thank God that I know the One who is in control of all things and He has promised me that if I will just turn to him and trust him, that he has made a way for me to cope with whatever comes my way. God has placed a limit on the amount of stress the devil can put on you. God has built a hedge around you that Satan cannot cross without God’s permission and God will never allow you to be destroyed as long as your faith is in him.
I think that so many times we are overcome by stress and worry simply because we take our eyes off of Jesus and his promises. Satan’s wiles (methods) are so exceedingly deceitful that many of us fall into his trap before we realize what’s happening and then God has to reach down and lift us out of the pits of mental anguish, emotional breakdowns, and physical illness and help us turn our eyes back to him instead of our circumstances.
Remember, Peter had faith to walk on the water, but even that great faith failed when he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused only on the troubled seas around him.
You see my friends, Jesus wants you to come apart too; not like the devil tries to take you apart, but like the Holy Spirit desires to draw you apart!
The scriptures in Matthew 17 that we read at the beginning of this message say this, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them up into a high mountain – apart.
Jesus knows the nature of man and he knew that Peter, James and John would never be able to experience the glory of God in their lives if they did not come apart from the circumstances of life that surrounded them. He carried them above all of their troubles. He brought them into a high place, above the din of life with all its worry and trials. He lifted them above the shadows of sin and screams of the devil’s crowd. They had to “come apart” to experience God’s glory.
It was only after they had “come apart” with Jesus that he was transfigured before them!
Jesus will not be Jesus in your life until you have come apart with him. The point is that we can either come apart with Jesus or come apart without him!
I don’t know about you but I would rather allow Jesus to bring me into a place of glory and power with him than to be taken apart by the powers of sin and hell.
The people of God have suffered greatly under the oppressive hand of the devil and his demonic spirits. You come to church and sit in God’s house, trying to worship God, trying to serve the Lord, and all the while Satan’s voice is in your ear reminding you of everything that you face in the world. One of his greatest methods for keeping you from experiencing the glory of God is to keep you distracted while you are in God’s presence.
Even though Peter, James and John had followed Jesus to the high mountain, and separated themselves from the crowds below, they still would not have seen the glory of God if they had become distracted. Suppose they had allowed their minds to wander as they thought of the troubles that still faced them in the valley below. Suppose that they had allowed themselves to simply look away at the beauty of the other mountains and valleys that lay before them. They would not have seen the change in Jesus and experienced his great glory in their lives.
It’s time for us to come apart with Jesus!
If we will only learn to shut out the devil and his shouts!
James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Too often we not only don’t resist the wiles of Satan, but we dwell on them and open the door for more to come in.
Jesus was transfigured before the disciples that day so they could catch a glimpse of his real glory and power. They were the only ones who saw it because they were the only ones to come apart with him.
Certainly there have been millions who have followed Jesus in faith. They were faithful unto death in many cases and they have gone to meet their reward. I trust that all of you are being faithful to God and that you will receive your eternal reward when God calls you home.
But I want more than just the ordinary life of living for the Lord as wonderful as that is. I don’t want to be one of those disciples who were left behind to cope with life while Peter, James and John saw God’s glory – I WANT TO SEE GOD’S GLORY TOO!
You have to come apart with Jesus to see his glory. The transfiguration of Jesus in your life from being a Savior that you serve and the God that you worship through faith - into a very real presence, with a vision of him that allows you to see his glory and power, and a new feeling that brings absolute peace and the fear, reverence and awe of who God really is, will never come until you have come apart into a higher place with him.
You have to go where not many will go with Jesus! Your life must be lost in his! Your heart must become one with his! Your whole being must be immersed in his transforming power before you will experience what those disciples experienced that day.
There may be some of you hearing this message that have not yet come apart with Jesus. There may some who have not even began this journey to the high places in Jesus.
Perhaps there are even some who don’t even know Jesus as your Savior!
It’s time for you to “come apart” with him!
If you are a sinner, and you have not experienced salvation through Jesus Christ, that must be your first step.
If you have ever told a lie; ever stolen anything; ever used profanity; ever looked upon another human being with lust in your heart; or ever broken one single commandment of God’s Law, then my friend, you are a sinner.
The Word of God tells us that none of us have kept all of God’s Law and that we are all sinners who have fallen short. There is none righteous, no not even one. All it takes is to be guilty of violating one of God’s laws and that makes you guilty of all of God’s laws.
If you want to begin your walk with Jesus, it’s time for you come apart from the world, renounce your old life, repent of the sin and ask Jesus into your heart! That’s the only way to eternal life. It must come through Jesus Christ and his death upon the cross. You must come apart and surrender your life to him so that he can put you back together again and give you eternal life.
If you don’t come apart for Jesus, believe me, Satan will utterly destroy you and you will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire with him. God is going to take apart Satan’s power one day and everyone who refuses to accept Jesus as their Savior will be taken apart with Satan and cast into the same pit of fire that God has already prepared for Satan and his angels. God doesn’t want to send you there but he won’t force you to follow him either. It’s your choice and it’s an eternal choice!
If you are listening to this message and you already love Jesus, but Satan has been pushing you around and trying to take you apart – it’s time to turn your eyes on Jesus. It’s time that you come apart for Christ. Get alone with God and fix your heart on Him so that God’s power and glory can be manifest in your heart and life.
It’s time to come apart with Jesus! Will you come? Will you surrender all to him?
Remember, you will either come apart with Jesus or you will be taken apart in judgment!
